“Damn. Does every ambulance carry these?”
“You can have it all,” Maya said. “We don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”
“Uh, yeah. Thanks. As if we needed your permission.”
The man narrowed his eyes as a glint of metal caught his attention. He reached down beneath the passenger seat and pulled out the Glock that Maya had dropped. Looking at it, he smirked. He flipped it around, took hold of it by the barrel, and offered it to Maya. She stared at the gun, and then looked into the man’s eyes.
“You’re going to need to protect yourself out there. Take it.”
Maya’s hand shook as she took the gun from him, her eyes never leaving his.
“Both of you are welcome to join us.”
“Why didn’t you ask first instead of stopping the rig and dragging us out?”
“Sorry, but that’s the way it is now. It’s a dog-eat-dog world.”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
“Whatever,” the man said with a smile. “But it would be nice to have paramedics around.”
“We’re not joining a gang,” Maya said.
“Survival, baby. That’s what this is all about.”
“Well, I hope it makes you feel safer. But we’ll be on our way.”
The man stared at her for a moment before stepping aside. “Let them pass.”
She nodded at the man as Reno walked around to the front of the rig.
“Thanks for the stuff,” the man said, laughing.
Maya didn’t look at him again. Instead, she walked alongside Reno, passing through the crowd that had parted to let them pass.
21
Night arrived on the heels of the setting sun, offering a deceptive moment of beauty in an unsettled world. The day’s heat gave way to an early autumn chill. For the first time since the obelisk had exploded from the ground, destroyed the Parthenon, and dropped an invisible dome over Nashville, Maya and Reno trekked through the city on foot.
“I should have tried driving through them,” Reno said.
“They would have shot at us.”
“You really think so?”
“It wasn’t worth taking the risk,” Maya said, her eyes straight ahead. “We would have eventually been robbed of the rig.”
“We lost a reliable vehicle, a shit-ton of medical gear, and our guns.”
“But we’re alive, right?”
And that was all that mattered to Maya. Outside, the government and military had to be working on a way to bring down the dome. Once this ended, Nashville would go back to the way it had been. And Maya was going to make sure she was around to raise her children. If that meant giving up some medical supplies to stay alive, then so be it.
The partners continued walking down the middle of the road, still about fifteen miles from Reno’s aunt’s house in White’s Creek—too much ground to cover during the night when things felt more dangerous, out of control. They would have to find somewhere to rest for the evening, and that would present its own challenges.
They occasionally saw small groups of people, some arguing and others staring at them as they walked past. People had started fires, and several cars had been up-ended in the middle of the road. But Maya and Reno kept walking, moving through, doing their best to avoid any more altercations. Maya kept her hand on the Glock tucked into the front of her waistband, but kept it hidden beneath her shirt. Even though he was more comfortable handling fire arms, Reno had insisted she keep a gun on her—in the event that they became separated, or worse.
“I honestly don’t know if we should be looking for people or avoiding them,” Reno said as they hit a stretch of highway with nobody else around. “But I’ve got one hell of a cramp in my calf, so we might think about stopping somewhere for the night.”
Maya scanned the road a few hundred yards ahead and saw what looked like a small group of men standing around something on the ground. They were laughing and shouting out obscenities, and as she got closer, she noticed one of them kicking at something on the ground. And with that, Maya realized that it wasn’t a something on the ground, but a someone. A man had curled up into a fetal position and covered his head with his hands as the group of people kicked him. This wasn’t like the fistfights or brawls Maya and Reno had seen breaking out across the city. These people were beating this man brutally, and he appeared to be defenseless.
“We have to stop this.”
“It’s none of our business,” Reno said. “They haven’t seen us yet. Keep moving.”
“You think we should let that group of people beat that man to death?”
“I don’t want to get involved, Maya. Maybe there’s a good reason they’re attacking him.”
Maya knew Reno was right. They couldn’t save everyone, everywhere. Unless the danger threatened their lives, she had to avoid it. Not only for Reno’s sake, but for Laura and Aiden’s, as well. Even if it didn’t feel right. She approached the fight.
Two men stepped to the side then, and Maya looked over and down at the person being beaten.
“Jack?”
Maya ran toward him, and Reno followed her. “Let him go.” She stood over Jack while the other dozen or so people formed a circle around them.
A woman who had been kicking at Jack turned around and snarled at Maya. She was almost six feet tall, had spiked black hair, and wore a tank top that only partially covered her tattoos. “Piss off.”
“Let it go, Maya,” Reno said, catching up to her, pushing through several people, and grabbing her arm. “Keep going.”
But Maya shook him off.
“Listen to him,” a man in the group said. “Stay out of it.”
“Why are you ganging up on him?” Maya asked.
“That’s none of your damn business,” the tall, burly woman said. “Get the hell out of here unless you want your face looking like this.”
The woman kicked Jack in the face, the toe of her combat boot hitting him in the eye. His head rocked back, and the others in the group laughed.
Maya stepped forward. “Don’t kick him again.”
The woman raised an eyebrow and glanced at her friends.
“What did you say?”
“Don’t kick him again,” Maya said again.
The people who had been beating Jack stepped back as the woman stepped toward Maya.
“You should’ve kept walking, bitch.” The woman drew a knife from a sheath on her hip.
Maya felt the grip of the Glock in her hand, but she was determined not to devolve into a criminal, like so many others appeared to be doing. Instead, she clenched her hands into fists.
“Forget it,” Reno said. He reached for her arm again, but she shrugged him off.
“You’ve got one last chance, Barbie. Either beat it, or I swear to Christ that I will cut you.”
Maya stood still—not speaking and not backing down.
The woman looked at the others in her group, laughing and shaking her head. As she turned back to Maya, she thrust the knife forward in a single motion. Maya sensed the move practically before she made it, and sidestepped the woman’s attack.
“You’re quick for a soccer mom.”
The woman came at Maya again with a slash to her face while the others shouted and cheered on the combatants. Maya ducked and shoved the woman in the back, sending her tumbling to the ground. The woman got up, her eyes filled with rage. She wiped the saliva from the corner of her mouth and crouched down, pointing the tip of the knife at Maya’s face.
“That’s it, bitch. I’m done playing with you.”
She lunged at Maya again, wildly swinging the knife back and forth. Maya dodged every strike without so much as breaking a sweat, and then the woman screamed and leaped at Maya, who grabbed the woman’s wrist and twisted. The woman dropped the knife, and Maya twisted her arm and pinned it behind her back.